Health crisis leads to new life choices, business opportunity

Gayle Galbraith says, “The first thing I do each morning when I open my eyes is say thank you for another day.”

Gayle, now the owner of The Federal Beverage Company in Rehoboth Beach, suffered 38 cardiac events in 2016 following a stroke. During her recovery, while she relearned how to walk, talk and get back to day-to-day activities, she reevaluated her life. She was left at a crossroads; would she file for disability or would she take her second chance at life and make a change? Gayle decided to grab life by the kombucha bottle and start a brand-new journey for herself and her family. She opened The Federal Brewing Company, a brewery for nonalcoholic kombucha.

As a holistic health coach, Gayle knew the benefits of kombucha for better brain and gut health. It helps detoxify the liver and is loaded with nutrients, electrolytes and probiotics as well. She recognized making her own kombucha as a burgeoning opportunity in the area, since no one else was filling the need for a healthy, probiotic-rich beverage. Gayle and her husband Stan currently brew their internationally award-winning kombucha in a shared kitchen in Denton, Md., but eventually they would like to move their operation closer to eastern Sussex County and their new retail location. The Federal Beverage Company, Delaware’s first nonalcoholic bottle shop and social lounge, is located in the Seaside Outlets in Rehoboth Beach.

The Federal Beverage Company is a cozy, welcoming venue that is meant to foster a soothing, alcohol-free space where customers can socialize and unwind while enjoying a varied array of more than 300 nonalcoholic beverages. It offers nonalcoholic beer, wine, spirits, mocktails and of course, kombucha from The Federal Brewing Company.

Gayle said, “The space is designed to feel like you are in your weird aunt’s living room: eclectic, comfortable and relaxing.” She furnished the space with plenty of comfortable seating and tables to accommodate everything from game nights to classes to live music. It’s a perfect place to enjoy a book and some coffee, or even bring your knitting club.

“We want to become a new third space for people. When you stop drinking, you often lose your avenue for socialization, and we want to encourage people to come and hang with us,” said Gayle, who is celebrating her third year of sobriety. She recognizes the prevalence of isolation and depression in our society, particularly as people get older. That isolation grows deeper when people decide to stop drinking and can no longer run in their normal social circles.

She wants to encourage people of all ages to unplug and talk face-to-face while enjoying a nice mocktail. Gayle plans to open a mocktail bar in the store by the end of the year and intends to offer fun, grown-up nonalcoholic beverages and live music. The beach area offers many options for drinking alcohol, and Gayle believes that a healthier alternative will be popular with those who are looking for something different. “We plan to offer sophisticated adult beverage alternatives,” she said.

Gayle hopes to expand The Federal Beverage Company to additional locations within the next five years. Also, she is in the process of creating an online fulfillment center to allow customers to have the company’s nonalcoholic products delivered to their door.

Gayle’ biggest challenge is learning how to be patient. “There are so many things that I want to do with my business, but I have learned to trust the process, go at a reasonable pace, and develop the necessary foundation for future growth,” she said.

When asked about her business know-how, Gayle said she gained invaluable insights into operating a small business through the Goldman-Sachs Small Business Program. She learned that a CEO’s responsibility is to create a vision for the business and then hire the right people to execute that vision. She also learned that financial controls are essential for any business because if you don’t have control of your numbers, you can’t control your business. One of the most valuable lessons learned was the importance of implementing standardized operating procedures. These SOPs provided Gayle the security that her store would be run properly without her presence. That gave her the opportunity to go on a two-week vacation with her daughters for the first time in many years.

Gayle said if she could give her 18-year-old self advice, she would say learn how to be comfortable with being different, while at the same time thinking about how to do good in the world. Unfortunately, there are enough bad things going on in the world that we all need to focus on doing good, she said. As a health coach, Gayle tries to do good by helping others stay healthy. “If we’re lucky, we’re all going to get old,” she said. “So, I try to help people get old and be healthy.”